Google never wastes an opportunity to influence US telecoms policy in the interests of the open, ubiquitous web access that will bolster its own business models. It went on the lobbying offensive over the 700MHz spectrum auction, winning some of its open access goals, and has now turned its attention to the rules for broadband stimulus funding awards and particularly for the national network that should be built as part of the US recovery plan.
It is calling for tight conditions of openness and net neutrality to be attached to any projects funded by the recovery plan, even though some larger operators have indicated that they will not apply for grants if the strings attached are too tight. However, Google has not revived the full four-point openness plan that it took to the FCC in the run-up to the 700MHz auction ‘ as well open access to any network from any device, this called for open applications, unrestricted by the carrier; open services, allowing third parties to acquire wireless services from a wholesaler on non-discriminatory terms; and open networks, enabling all service providers to be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point.
Many of these points may get a new hearing as Google starts to advise the FCC on crafting plans for a national broadband network by the February 2010 deadline set in the stimulus Recovery Act package. Google says it has teamed up with the New America Foundation to launch a Google Moderator page that allows visitors to submit and vote on ideas to be included in the national broadband plan. “Two weeks from now we’ll take the most popular and most innovative ideas and submit them to the official record at the FCC on your behalf,” wrote Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel. At this stage, we can expect the search giant to get more aggressive about its own agenda, and to push the ‘general public’ ideas that most closely match that.
Google has already suggested fiber deployment to every library, school, community healthcare center and public housing facility in the US; and the removal of many usage restrictions on the ‘white space wireless spectrum’ scattered round the TV band ‘ another key focus of Google’ telecoms agenda.
Commentator Andrew Seybold hints at the dark side of Google’s support for consumer rights to affordable broadband and open web services, writing in his blog: ‘I think the company should be required to make a full disclosure of the amount of dark fiber it owns all over the nation and tell us its plans for how this fiber will come into play in the future.’ He adds: ‘Google has hired some outstanding talent from both the wired and wireless industries but is not listening to them. Its management negates the issues of interference, and the CEO, at least, claims that wireless bandwidth is not a scarce resource. Rather, they believe that by bringing more wireless access closer to those who want it, we can have all the bandwidth we will ever need. (Does Google plan to provide back end services for a zillion femtocells with all that dark fiber?)’
Meanwhile, the deadline for applications for broadband stimulus grants and loans is coming up on August 14, and some industry and consumer groups are calling on the NTIA to clarify the meanings of ‘unserved’ and ‘underserved’ as they pertain to broadband availability. They also want the agency to bar incumbent service providers from protesting applications. They have been successful in getting the NTIA to clarify its stipulation that new broadband build-outs be in unserved or underserved areas, which could have excluded projects in poor areas of otherwise well served cities, or public safety initiatives in those same metro areas. ‘Underserved’ is now applied even down to the level of individual blocks, where 40% or fewer people have access to broadband.